EDUCATION Minister Ng Eng Hen, 51, is no stranger to the shaping and implementation of education policy.

Dr Ng, who is also Second Minister for Defence, was previously minister of state and then second minister at the Education Ministry from 2002 to 2005, where he oversaw technical education and university issues, among other things.

Two years ago, he left his post as Manpower Minister to take over the education portfolio from Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who became Finance Minister.

Dr Ng, who studied at Anglo Chinese School and then National Junior College, studied medicine at the National University of Singapore. He was a cancer surgeon with a private practice at Mount Elizabeth Hospital before entering politics in 2001.

He is married to paediatrician Ivy Lim Swee Lian and has two sons and two daughters.